Sacrifice: Laid Bare (Laid Bare #4)(14)

Time passed, and we fell more in love every day.

And then I turned thirty, only a few short months following our time in Canada with Dunne. Despite my obligation to the pact my parents had made having been lifted, I felt tense and uneasy in the days and weeks after my birthday.

I sensed Dahlia was worried, as well.

Still, we remained fine. Nothing happened when the fateful day arrived, nor in the days and weeks after…at least not to me or Dahlia. Selene remained fine, as well. In fact, it was she who contacted me one wintry morning to let me know my parents—and hers—had lost all their money in an unexpected market turn. Somehow, all their holdings had been transferred to one company that had lost their entire fortune. They swore they hadn’t moved any money, but someone sure had. Or, more likely, something had moved the money, a force stronger than any of us. Worse yet—for them, but not for me or Dahlia—our families were stripped of all powers. No spells or incantations worked in any capacity. Our parents were now ordinary…and destitute.

I knew immediately this was the price they’d been made to pay for making a deal with the devil, pretty much literally.

Despite everything, I still felt a little bad for them. Selene and I set up all the necessary arrangements so they could at least survive, albeit in a very humble manner. Once those things were done, Selene made a point to keep in touch with me more frequently.

Over time, I learned she’d been under one of mother’s spells when she’d done all those terrible things to Dahlia.

She cried when she told me. “I am so, so sorry, Lucien. I wanted to tell you a long time ago, but I was afraid of what our parents might do to me for breaking their trust.”

“Well, they’re no longer a worry,” I reminded her.

Knowing Selene had not been acting all on her own made forgiving her much easier, and we began speaking more frequently.

On one of those calls, she asked, “Are you okay, Lucien? You seem rather quiet this afternoon. Is everything all right?”

“Everything is fine,” I assured her. “I was just thinking about our parents today. I wish things had turned out differently.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

I sighed. “I just wish they’d realized their mistakes before it was too late. Perhaps they could have atoned.”

Now it was Selene’s turn to sigh. “I think the die was cast, Lucien, in the days we were conceived. There was never going to be any going back for them.”

Raking away hair that had fallen to my forehead, I leaned back in my desk chair.

“You’re right, Selene,” I said, glancing around my luxurious study. I felt guilty sometimes, for my great success and wealth. I knew such feelings were ludicrous, but still…

“I know it was out of our hands,” I continued, returning to the conversation regarding our parents. “Still, what happened to them bothers me some days.”

I could almost feel Selene smiling on the other end, even an ocean away. Softly, she said, “You know, it’s funny, Lucien.”

“What’s that?”

“You made Dahlia like us, but not before she made you more like her. There’s so much more humanity in you these days, Lucien.”

“Is that a bad thing?”

“I used to think it was,” she said thoughtfully. “But now I find it charming.”

It was my turn to smile. I actually loved that I felt more human than I had in the past. Dahlia and I lived the best of both worlds by being this way. Selene was more like Dunne, more pure creature.

And that got me to thinking…

Dunne had called a few days ago. He’d finally managed to muster up the courage to travel and was currently planning to come down to Chicago for a long-overdo visit. In fact, he was coming in this weekend.

No longer living as a complete recluse, Dunne had even ventured to the tiny town near him. He was working hard to overcome his fear by interacting with the townspeople through acts such as buying groceries and getting gas for an SUV he’d recently purchased.

Dahlia told me time and time again that Dunne was ready to meet Selene. She was still fixated on setting up the two of them. It seemed this would be the perfect opportunity.

“Hey, Selene,” I said, adding some much-needed cheerfulness to my tone. “Do you have any plans this weekend?”

Selene sounded curious as she said, “No, why?”

Dahlia walked into the study at that moment. She was smiling, and I knew she’d seen in my mind what I was up to. Leaning against the doorframe, she gave me an encouraging thumbs-up.

“Well,” I said to Selene, “there’s someone Dahlia and I would like you to meet. He’s flying in to Chicago Friday night and he’ll be staying with us for a few days. So if—”

Selene interrupted. “He? Are you and Dahlia trying to set me up with someone, Lucien Chambers?”

She didn’t sound upset, she sounded intrigued.

There was no point in denying anything, so I said, “As a matter of fact, yes, we are.”

“Tell her she needs to get laid,” Dahlia interjected.

“I heard that,” Selene yelled, so loudly I had to hold the phone away from my ear.

“Are you two done?” I calmly inquired.

Dahlia was laughing, and I heard Selene mutter, “She’s totally right, you know.”